Hi Alfonso,

I’m 5’3 and recently lost about 20lbs, reaching my original goal of 124lbs. The journey wasn’t an easy one. After being laid off, I worked out 2-3 hours a day (Insanity – I ran 3.5 miles daily and some days also did a bootcamp!) I realized that I was beating my body up so I backed off a bit.

Now my goal is to get to 115lbs but I kind of feel like I’m plateau-ing. What can I do to jump start weight loss again? I eat about 1,500 calories a day. Can I still lose weight if I only work out an hour a day? Also, how late in the day is too late to eat fruit? I know it’s natural sugar but I get hungry a lot late at night.

Thanks, Mimi

Hey Mimi,

I love hearing of success stories so thank you for sharing yours. Nothing worth achieving is ever an easy road, it’s a lesson that’s learned the hard way. I always joke that with the unemployment rate being so high people can’t use the excuse of being too busy. If you aren’t working, then you better be working out! You were definitely running yourself into the ground with all of that exercise, but it got you some great results. Now we need to transition you onto a more realistic program.

Let’s get started, YES you can lose weight and get fit with hour-long workouts, I have, my clients have and so have millions of others. They key is that the program you go on be intelligently structured and geared towards your goals. Many people never achieve fitness success or end up taking the long way there because they used the wrong exercise techniques. Your previous training sounds really good, continue along those lines with a circuit style training program 4 days per week. Try a different class or DVD, something new that will challenge your body. I recommend you spice it up a bit; try sprinting, jump rope, run hills, instead of non-stop runs. Short bursts of cardio, contrary to popular misconception are more effective at burning fat and calories than slow to moderate paced cardio work. And it’s much more fun and exciting.

This will help jump start weight loss again, but you have to first make sure your diet is in check; my suggestion is consume little to no simple sugars such as fruit, juices and white flour products and instead choose complex fibrous carbohydrates like brown rice, green veggies and beans for steady, sustained energy.

You also need quality protein found in chicken, fish and lean red meat for those muscle building and maintaining amino acids. Avocado, nuts and other healthy fats will help keep you full and support other body functions. You must be fairly fit with all that conditioning you did, so 1,500 calories may actually be a little too low if you’re metabolism is in the stratosphere. It’s quite common for someone in a plateau to resume weight loss by eating more, not less food. The food you eat helps to regulate your metabolism and actually speed it up. Yours may have adjusted or leveled off, as most peoples do when you stick to the same calories day after day and burn so much through exercise. Your body just puts on the brakes and says, “Whoa, slow down, I’m putting all this energy out and not much energy is being put back in”. So, you plateau, or possibly even gain weight. Play around a bit with some different calorie amounts, a little at a time, a week to 10 days, and see what happens.

As for fruit, in a weigh loss phase I limit it to almost nothing, maybe half an apple with some natural peanut butter or a handful of strawberries.  Why? When you are trying to lose fat you’re asking your body to burn stored fat for use as fuel. If you supply a great source of easily processed sugar like “natures candy”, why would it? If you’re hungry at night, you’re simply not eating enough throughout the day. If you’re hungry at 8 pm, then eat. A small serving of veggies and protein is great anytime.

Keep it up Mimi, contact me again and let me know how it’s going. And if you’d like a more in-depth consultation with me – just drop me a line via the How To Book button in the sidebar.

And if you have a question for me – please just click here. I’d love to help you!

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